Giro d'Italia Stage 4: Savigliano - Cuneo (TTT) 32.5km

[sportzchick]

sportzchick never talks while Cadel's wife is drinking water

WTF are you on seriously

 

[theyoungest]

hey your the ones that started it

Please, could you stop behaving like a 12-year-old? (or if you're a 12-year-old, pretend you're not)

 

[auscyclefan94]

Looks like Evans should have stayed with Lotto after all!

They finally do a decent ITT.

does not mean that at all. if he is happier at bmc then that's where he should of stayed. this is closer to lotto's a team and this is really bmc's b team. with the losses of kohler, frei and ballan they have been disadvantaged as well.

 

[issoisso]

Astana probably lost 10 seconds in the last KM there, I hope that doesn't come back to haunt Vino later in the race.

I think Sky did pretty well to come second despite going out in what seemed to be at least slightly less favourable conditions than some of the last few teams, and losing one man right out of the starting gate. I don't know if they could have done any better by trying not to shed so many riders, if they'd dropped the pace to let guys catch back on they probably would have ended up much slower than they did by just going full gas all the way and damn the consequences.

Sutton's mechanical definitely cost them, no doubt about that

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Nabali
Basso 13"
Agnoli 20"
Greippel 26"
Goss 26"
Vino 33"
Karpets 39"
Millar 45"

 

[sportzchick]

Please, could you stop behaving like a 12-year-old? (or if you're a 12-year-old, pretend you're not)

Sigh - I give up!

I will be quiet in the Giro for now but I am going laugh so hard if Cadel wins the Giro....few are going to handle that well

 

[kurtinsc]

I think the race is still between Evans and Sastre

I think you have to add Basso to that at this point (or Nibali if he takes leadership). Basso has about 1'40" and Nibali about 2'00" over Evans (with an additional 15 seconds on Sastre).

While Sastre and Evans may be better climbers... they aren't what I'd think of as worlds better... just a small step.

 

[TRDean]

I'd love to see Vladimir Karpets take this whole ball of wax...his gear mashing makes me laugh really hard...Crankenstein!!

 

[auscyclefan94]

Sutton's mechanical definitely cost them, no doubt about that

did they wait for him?

 

[Eratosthenes]

Well enough sitting and watching and reading, and laughing and getting p***d off and quite often left scratching my head.

You know, I just had to make the plunge since there is not nearly sufficient worship of the demi-god that is Cadel.

And as far as this Dutch-Aussie thing goes, my parents were Dutch I grew up on an Island discovered by a Dutchman, and now live on another island also discovered by old Abel Tasman. But mate being an Aussie born, can't get much better than that (plus we play the best sport in the entire known multiverse, Footy which is of course AFL).

comments: just a couple so far. Seems a little silly to say that the teams that performed better in previous stages deserve the better conditions (if in fact they were) in the latter stages of the race. All said in hind-sight and could just as easily be reversed.

BMC - Did well. Better than half the teams, most of which have been pro for a while have they not? Not bad for newbies. Flamin impressive some might say.

 

[Jamsque]

Greipel's going to take it tomorrow with bonus seconds from his stage win

Oh damn. I had forgotten about the gorilla. He could well take pink tomorrow, I expect that the rest day and a relatively short day in the saddle today will have gone a long way to helping him recover from his upset tummy, and the Columbia train should run smoother on some nice wide Italian roads.

If we do get a proper big bunch sprint it is going to be great seeing Sky, Garmin and Columbia pitting their trains against each other.



And can we please drop all the back and forth with the aussies? They are being stupid, and you are all being stupid too.

 

[Francois the Postman]

All I wanted to do is support Cadel in this thread - I havent done anything more

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it is mainly ACF who keeps supporting and ****ing over other riders and teams who is triggering a lot of the schadenfreude here, the moment Cadel and BMC don't get anywhere near his expectations (which is far more often than not), and everyone just keen to see Cadel gets lumped in.

It's curious to see that he gets under Dutch skins so easily. ACF is certainly not the only one fanning the flames.

 

[cineteq]

Big winner today: Basso and Nibali
2nd Big winner: Evans
Cut his losses: Sastre
Big loser: Vino

It was almost the perfect scenario for Evans!

 

[dsut4392]

sportzchick never talks while Cadel's wife is drinking water

Plausible...some of her spelling is certainly absurd enough to suggest a non-native English speaker...

 

[stefank]

Is this the first time in a GT that one Tasmanian has taken the white jersey from another?

 

[jaylew]

So anyway....

The real winners were Sky.

No...they weren't. They were the first losers.

 

[Jamsque]

Is this the first time in a GT that one Tasmanian has taken the white jersey from another?

Probably the first time in the history of White Jerseys and Tasmania.

 

[Moondance]

So as the riders recover from a myriad of crashes and peleton splits over the Dutch leg, the debate can now commence over the first major GC showdown, a 32km Team Time Trial to Cuneo, a city which has been featured in the Giro as recently as last year and also in 2002, although both those times it was a departure city.

Pre-race TTT favorite Garmin (well, my favorite anyway) has been dealt a killer blow with the Stage 3 DNF of Christian Vande Velde, which effectively takes them out of the running for the day victory. Sky will be strong favorite now if the damage that a rash of crashes they've been in haven't caused semi-permanent damage, and a strong, largely crash-resistent Liquigas will be right on their heels. Evans and his BMC boys share the unfortunate fate along with Garmin of being the only team with an abandon at this point, and therefore share the daunting task of starting with a man down.

My picks:

*** Team Sky
** Liquigas, Columbia
* Cervelo, Rabobank, Astana

All-in-all I think I did rather well. First time one of my predictions actually pans out pretty acurately.

 

[issoisso]

Is this the first time in a GT that one Tasmanian has taken the white jersey from another?

Agnoli is tasmanian?

Or is he 26 already? Seems like yesterday he was 23. Time flies

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

1 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 36:37 (Nibali, Basso)
2 SKY PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM +13 (Wiggins)
3 TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA +21
4 TEAM KATUSHA +27 (Karpets)
5 ASTANA +38 (Vinokourov)
6 CERVELO TEST TEAM +38 (Sastre)
7 OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO +46
8 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS +49
9 TEAM SAXO BANK +50
10 TEAM MILRAM +57
11 RABOBANK +1:04
12 BMC RACING TEAM +1:21 (Evans)
13 LAMPRE-FARNESE VINI +1:43 (Cunego)
14 FOOTON-SERVETTO +2:03
15 COLNAGO - CSF INOX +2:08 (Pozzovivo)
16 QUICK STEP +2:14
17 BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM +2:19
18 CAISSE D'EPARGNE +2:21
19 ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI - SERRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI +2:24 (Scarponi)
20 COFIDIS, LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +2:29
21 ACQUA & SAPONE - D'ANGELO & ANTENUCCI +2:39 (Garzelli)
22 AG2R LA MONDIALE +2:50

Garzelli and Scarponi the big losers of the day

 

[dgodave]

Good stage. I liked it. Would have liked to see longer shots of the teams, to see exactly how they handle the pull-offs and managing gaps, etc.
.
And of course, one or two more palazzos... (palazzi?) And maybe a basilica.
.

 

[sportzchick]

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it is mainly ACF who keeps supporting and ****ing over other riders and teams who is triggering a lot of the schadenfreude here, the moment Cadel and BMC don't get anywhere near his expectations (which is far more often than not), and everyone just keen to see Cadel gets lumped in.

It's curious to see that he gets under Dutch skins so easily. ACF is certainly not the only one fanning the flames.

I get too fustrated too esally for my own good most times - if that translates by a small few as being a 12 year old well there isnt much I can do about it.

I cant change what people think

I think Cadel didnt loose as much time as I thought which is good but it will be tough

 

[stefank]

Probably the first time in the history of White Jerseys and Tasmania.

That's what I was expecting. Can we secede from the rest of Australia now?

 

[Francois the Postman]

Whoever said that Vino wanted it too much is probably spot on.

Some interesting consequences for the remainder. 4th day and the giro is once again lining up perfectly for a sustained high entertainment value.

Glad we got the TTT out of the way though, I'm no fan.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I think you have to add Basso to that at this point (or Nibali if he takes leadership). Basso has about 1'40" and Nibali about 2'00" over Evans (with an additional 15 seconds on Sastre).

While Sastre and Evans may be better climbers... they aren't what I'd think of as worlds better... just a small step.

I agree completely. This is advantage Basso.

Let us think back to last year.

Sastre's best race, the giro:
Beat Basso by just 13 seconds overall.

Evan's best race last year, the vuelta:
Beat Basso by just 40 seconds overall.

ANd let us not forget that it was basso's first season back.

He is in a great position AND has the best team here!

Advantage Basso